A6
NATIONAL SIGNING DAY
Top OL Elliott headed to BC
• Two-time Martone
winner joins Glenn WR
Momah at ACC school
BY JASON MOLINET
STAFF WRITER
John Elliott never doubted, even
after the fourth busy signal. As the
East Meadow offen-sive lineman tried
to fax his national letter of intent to
Boston College yesterday from the
main office of his high school, Jets
football coach Vinny Mascia gave him
reason for pause.
"I said, 'John, this could be an
omen,''' Mascia said half-jokingly.
Miami, Florida State, Rutgers and
North Carolina State each made a late
push to land the 6-4, 286-pound of-
fensive tackle, rated among the top
seniors in the nation. (Rise magazine
rates Elliott the nation's No. 37 pros-
pect and Scout.com calls him the No.4
guard.) But Elliott simply dialed the
number a fifth time. Finally, the fax
went through.
"Boston College is a place where I
can get the full experience," said Elli-
ott, who plans to redshirt his freshman
season and convert to guard. "They
are starting to be a big player in the
ACC."
Elliott, a two-time Martone winner
as Nassau's top line-man, was the
highest-profile Long Islander to sign
yesterday on one of the holy days of
the college football season, but he was
far from alone. East Meadow team-
mate Mike Tracy, a key component in
the Jets' first county championship,
will play quarterback at Albany.
Glenn wideout Ifeanyi Momah
signed with Boston Co-lege, Kellen-
berg linebacker Michael Sweeney
committed to Navy and St. Anthony's
o-fensive lineman Tom Hagan is
headed to Army. Several others signed
with Division I-AA pr-grams, includ-
ing Hofstra-bound linebacker Anthony
Polo (Wantagh) and defensive line-
man Ronnie Cameron (Holy Trinity).
Another Glenn standout, quarterback
Trevor Coston, will play cornerback at
Maine.
Momah had help making his decision.
Older brother Onyi Momah, a 2000 Glenn
graduate, was a running back at Maine
and Hofstra and spent time in the Cincin-
nati Bengals' training camp in the sum-
mer. He made the trip to BC with Ifeanyi
three weeks ago and walked his brother
through the process.
"He's been a big influence," said
Ifeanyi, an All-Long Island wideout. He's
been through it all. He came on the visit
with me."
Perhaps the most grateful to have sign-
ing day come and to have someone be-
lieve in him was All-Long Island running
back Mike Mayo of Roosevelt. His
dreams of playing at Stony Brook fizzled
when he couldn't nail down the required
SAT score early enough.
Enter Cold Spring Harbor. Students
Peter Ottaviano, Andrew Gabriel and
Top prospect John Elliot
signs his letter of intent with
Boston College on National
Signing Day.
newsday.com/nzone
• Check out the latest list of
college commitments on Na-
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tics and swimming read our
weekly insiders.
• Watch Andy Slawson's Unsung
Hero video on Abena George, a
hard-working basketball player
at Elmont.
Cold Spring Harbor scholar-
athlete Peter Ottaviano (far
right) tutors Roosevelt’s Mike
Mayo (far left) and Jon Harris
(center) for their upcoming
SAT test.
Mike Kuchta volunteered to tutor Roo-
sevelt football players twice a week for
eight weeks, according to Roosevelt
coach Joe Vito. Mayo leaped at the
opportunity.
"It was a great help," said Mayo, who
took the test again Jan. 27 and is confi-
dent he got the score he needed. "I was
struggling in math. We'd go out [to
Cold Spring Harbor] every Tuesday
and Thursday and they gave us practice
tests ... and it really helped."
Although Stony Brook backed off,
Mayo signed with Central Connecticut,
where he'll play either running back or
defensive back, whatever gets him on
the field first. Give an assist to Cold
Spring Harbor.
Said Vito, "I would have to say they
went above and beyond."